Norwegian Wood by The Beatles: Song Analysis

The song opens with a sweepingly catchy acoustical melody that seamlessly evokes sense of nostalgic longing. This feeling of sadness and reflection permeates passim the piece. While the arrangement is actually quite complex, the music appears stripped trim down to the casual listener the song is centered around a prom lick performed simultaneously on acoustic guitar and sitar, which Is Introduced at the beginning and unquestionably does not evolve into anything beyond this. The simplistic structure brings to mind a sensation of loneliness, which is heightened by Lemons yearning vocals.The soothing melody can be described as dreamlike, and the petition is used to almost hypnotic effect, win in ministering the c at oncentrated listener into a peaceful, contemplative daze. The short duration of the song Is somewhat Jarring (It ends just after two minutes) because mediocre as the listener has been subdued by the Infectious melody, they are put a course by It just as quickly. It fe els as though in that location should be more as if there is something missing. I would argue, however, that this is exactly the effect The Battles intended, as it adds to the ambiguous nature of the song. The production of the song, courtesy of GeorgeMartin, succeeds in bringing the transmissible melody to the forefront of the experience, all the while allowing the rest of the Instruments sufficient clarity. equivocalness Is also achieved through the songs lyrics, which describe a seemingly clandestine applaud affair between Lennox and an unnamed woman. The song opens with the line I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me, suggesting that not only is the consanguinity mysterious to the listener, but also inconclusive to the man involved in it. The lyrics continue to outline a strained evening of the couple talking, be wine, and eventually going to bed in separate rooms.Much speculation has been make as to what the song Is actually about, especially the final lines A nd when I awoke, I was alone, this bird had flown / So 1 11th a fire, Isnt It good, Norwegian wood. nigh believe that the fire being lit is a joint of marijuana, or that the man burns the house down after the woman makes him quiescence in the bath. In The Battles Anthology, Lennox says of the lyrics Norwegian Wood was about an affair I was having. I was very careful and paranoid because I didnt want my wife, CCNY, to know that there in reality was something owing on outside the household.Id always had some openhearted of affairs going, so I was trying to De sophisticated In paper auto an tall, out In sun a smokescreen way that you couldnt tell. (196) Like many of The Battles innovations in sound, the incorporation of the sitar came from spontaneous experimentation. In The Battles Anthology, George Harrison recalls I went and bought a sitar from a little shop at the top of Oxford passageway called Antiaircraft it stocked little carvings, and incense. It was a real crummy-qual ity one, actually, but I bought it and mucked around with it a bit.Anywayay, we were at the mint where wed recorded the Norwegian Wood sustenance track (twelve-string and six- string acoustic, bass and drums) and it needed something. We would usually start feel through the cupboard to see if we could come up with something, a refreshed sound, and I picked the sitar up it was Just lying around I hadnt really figured out what to do with it. It was quite spontaneous I effect the notes that played the lick. It fitted and it worked. (196) Norwegian Wood is the second track on natural rubber Soul, following the upbeat Drive My Car and is followed by the also light-hearted float Wont See Me.